How 5 NASCAR drivers plan to survive the chaos of Talladega Superspeedway

There are countless ways to describe NASCAR’s longest track, Talladega Superspeedway. But perhaps the most common adjective is chaotic.

At the 2.66-mile Alabama track, cars are required to race with restrictor plates, which limit their speed as a safety precaution because the long length of the tri-oval opens the door to dangerously high speeds. But a side effect of the restrictor plates is – like at Daytona International Speedway, the only other NASCAR Cup Series track to use them – drivers are forced to draft in larger packs and can’t break away easily.

Similar to Daytona, truly any driver has the potential to win, and Talladega will crown its first winner of the season Sunday in the GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX). So here’s how five drivers say they plan to manage the chaos.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford

In the 2017 season, Stenhouse grabbed his first career Cup Series wins, taking the checkered flags in the GEICO 500 at Talladega and the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

“For us, it is a great opportunity to go get stage points. That is the way I look at it. I want to be in the top 10, lead stages, win stages and get as many points as we can. One of the reasons why I like to do that is because you can ride around in the back, not get any stage points and go race at the end and have the opportunity to race at the end but if you get caught in a wreck with 10 to go, you are still sitting there with no points. …

“For me, I am going to be aggressive and try to keep our Fifth Third Ford up front and get as many points as possible. I can’t speak for everybody else but I like driving hard and giving fans something good to watch.”

Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford

With five victories, Keselowski is the winningest active driver at Talladega. All time, he’s third behind Dale Earnhardt’s 10 and Dale Jr.’s and Jeff Gordon’s six each.

(Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports)

“Maybe I have just been lucky five times. I think there is a luck factor to Talladega that will always be there, and there is a skill factor that seems to always be a moving target with different tactics and techniques based on the rules, regulations and competitors. What it took to win here the first time is certainly not what it will take to win here this weekend. You have to adapt to that, and that is a big challenge when you have something you are successful with.

“I would say that with the way the cars are driving so far this weekend it will take something completely different again to be successful here. I look at it as a fairly open weekend with a lot of unpredictability, even for Talladega standards. With that is an opportunity as well. We are certainly going to have to earn it.”

Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota

Busch is on a three-race win streak and looking to make history by extending it to four. However, he only has one Cup Series win at Talladega.

(AP Photo/Ron Sanders)

“I just play with the equipment that I have and just kind of feel like I give it everything that I’ve got. I won’t try to put myself in a bad spot to cause something, but it’s always a challenge and it’s always different. I feel like every time you go to a plate race, it’s the same, but it’s different and you just don’t know what to expect.

“A lot of new drivers that are out there that don’t have wins yet in our series that are going to be hungry and looking for wins so they’re going to be trying to punch their tickets to the Playoffs and being very aggressive. You’ve got to be mindful of that too.”

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., No. 43 Ford

As a rookie, Wallace finished second in the Daytona 500, the first plate race of the season. It was the highest finish in the iconic race for both a rookie and an African-American driver.

(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

“You are not safe anywhere. Look at Daytona – wrecks happen at the front, the middle and the back. (Spotter) Freddie (Kraft) up top made good calls on where to go, guiding me through the wrecks and that helped out a lot. But I mean, it’s really hard to say. You are just trying to bide time, and people just get anxious and ready to jump the gun way too early and that is when things happen.

“Don’t get me wrong – I might sound like I’m downplaying it bad, but I’m excited to get back in the race car and go back at it again. Just from the experience we had (finishing second) at Daytona does bring a little bit of confidence. I’m just trying to remember what in the heck I did. I don’t know I was just out there cruising.”

Alex Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet

Bowman only has five Cup Series races at Talladega on his resume, but this will be his first time as a full-time driver in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s old 88 car.

(Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

“I mean I would say superspeedway racing is really luck of the draw as far as finishing one or not finishing one. It’s really easy to put yourself in all the right situations and not make any mistakes, and (have) somebody just crash in front of you and you can’t go anywhere. It’s really a lot of luck of the draw. … I think having a faster race car and being in front of more of those accidents is definitely a positive though. …

“Everybody wants to lead and run up front and that is what race car drivers are here to do. We are not just going to ride around and get to the end of the race.”

How 5 NASCAR drivers plan to survive the chaos of Talladega Superspeedway

Not much is guaranteed about Talladega, except the chaos.

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